Satisfyingly, my last six trips have been to Bordeaux, Berlin, Bay Area, Barcelona, Berlin, Buenos Aires. It would seem that I'm having an alliterative year, who knew. Fun.

I'm here for day job research stuff until Tuesday, then São Paolo for two nights, then back to London.

I've only been on the ground for a few hours, but hear me when I say I plan on making the very most of this incredible week.

Work-wise, I've always tried to be as empathetic as possible in thinking about how western tech and business culture can better serve markets that are really different from its own, and now I'll get to (finally!) ask some people about it firsthand. Never underestimate the value of *actually* speaking to the people you're trying to help.

Outside of business hours, I'll be reveling in my first-ever visit to South America. I know, I travel a lot, but I really just flit back and forth between Western Europe and America. And I've never really had the gotta-catch-em-all wanderlust bug. But for New Years 2018, I set myself a goal of visiting a new continent.

And look! Here I am.

**looks up over the horizon to the north, and waves energetically**

But what's crazy is.... I almost missed out on this trip.

Why? Because my first instinct was to assume that someone else deserved to go instead of me. That I should step back and let someone else learn. That I should stay in London because I'd been traveling "too much," and so I shouldn't give myself permission to go.

To clarify: absolutely nobody told me I shouldn't go on this trip—and it was still my first instinct to try and prevent myself from completing one of the only goals I wrote down for 2018.

The human brain, yo. We're absolutely insane sometimes, aren't we?

Maybe you know what I mean. Maybe you've also done something like this recently, and stood in your own way because you instinctively thought you should.

What opportunity did you turn down because you thought someone was just being nice? Or because you thought somebody—not even anybody specific, just somebody—deserved it more than you did? Which person did you prevent yourself from speaking to, because you assumed they wouldn't want to help?

Why'd you do that? Why did I do that?

We are both so worthy of big opportunities. We both have the skills and talent to work hard once we're in through the door.